Color Me In

This book knocked me off my feet. When I was least expecting it, it punched me in the heart, and I was crying through a whole bat mitzvah.Nevaeh Levitz is struggling to find where she fits in her family when her dad is white and Jewish and her mom and the people she knows best are Black and go to church. She’s never felt like she quite belongs in either world, but as the story goes on and she grows more sure of herself, it becomes clear she can carve out a spot that’s uniquely her own. She doesn’t have to be one thing or the other.Color Me In is not just an incredible story, it’ll also teach you about privilege, the challenges of growing up, and how to use your voice to help those closest to you. Let’s get to the review!Nevaeh is doing her best to figure out her life after a pretty big upheaval. She recently moved in with her mom’s sister’s family after her parents split up and with her mother deeply upset and depressed, Nevaeh has to deal with everything that comes with her new life all by herself.During this time, Nevaeh makes her way up to the attic and finds her mother’s old journal. As she reads through it, she begins to find out more about her mom’s past as well as one of the reasons why her parent’s marriage may have failed.I LOVE stories with journal entries from the past, especially when they’re from the main character’s parent. It’s a great way to learn with a character. They’re learning new facts about someone they’re close to just as the reader is.But that is only a small portion of the book. Nevaeh also has to deal with her father. He is dating his secretary (she is awwwwful) and has decided that he wants Nevaeh to have a bat mitvah. Nevaeh is horrified but ultimately agrees, if only to get her cheating father off her back.That brings in Rabbi Sarah who is meant to teach Nevaeh Hebrew and everything she needs to know to ensure her bat mitvah goes smoothly. Little does she know, Rabbi Sarah will teach her much more than what’s in the Torah. Besides Nevaeh, Rabbi Sarah might be my favorite character. It’s clear she’s been through a tough life and Nevaeh (and I) appreciates that. She’s not easy to get close to, but for Nevaeh, she tries. She is so supportive…I want a Rabbi Sarah.There is also Nevaeh’s life at school with her best friend, Stevie (who is an amazing dancer), and her time with her cousins at home and at church. While Nevaeh’s cousins accept her as their family, her cousin, Jordan repeatedly reminds her that she doesn’t live the same life or experience it in the same way as they do.Nevaeh can pass for white, so her experiences in society (especially around cops) is much different than it is for all the Black people in her family. It’s through Jordan and a horrifying experience at school (I think I stopped breathing during this scene), that Nevaeh realizes just how much privilege she has and how she can use it to help the people she loves most.And speaking of people she loves…Nevaeh falls for a Dominican boy named Jesus. OMG their relationship is so freaking cute. There are no words. Compared to what we read about Nevaeh’s mother’s past experiences with men, Nevaeh’s relationship with Jesus is the exact opposite. It’s supportive and loving and gets even better once Nevaeh begins to come into her own.And I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about Nevaeh’s poetry. She’s a brilliant writer and her poems are sprinkled throughout the story at integral moments. Her poetry is another way the reader gets to see what Nevaeh’s feeling and how she changes throughout the story. The topics and emotions in her poems change as she comes to better understand herself and her world.Color Me In blew me away in so many ways. Nevaeh and I have a few things in common. We are both half Jewish and have less-than-ideal fathers. The sections when she discovers her dad isn’t the person she thinks he is slapped me in the face. I have been in that moment and Nevaeh’s anger is all too real.And don’t even get me started with the bat mitzvah scene. I cried through the whole thing. It’s about growing up and making amends and being who you are, not necessarily what people tell you to be. It killed me and brought me back to life.Another moment that really stuck with me is when Nevaeh finally realizes her privilege and how much power comes with being white-passing.I’m white and being white comes with a lot of privilege. Before reading this story, I thought I knew how to use some of that privilege to help make the world a less awful place. But based on the way Jordan explains it to Nevaeh, I didn’t “get it” as much as I thought I did. There’s one scene where Jordan lets out all her feelings about living in a world that’s set against her and it was very eye-opening.I hope a ton of white readers check out this book and learn how to use their privilege for good. Or at the very least, understand a little better what Black people go through every day.Color Me In by Natasha Diaz is thought-provoking, fun, sad, and so well-written I could cry (and did). I’m blown away by Natasha Diaz and I can’t wait to read her next books. I am giving Color Me In 5 out of 5 stars. Please get this book. You won’t be disappointed. (the crying is worth it.)Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

In Color Me In, Nevaeh Levitz shares her adolescent journey as a bi-racial girl trying to find herself in the races and cultures that make up her ancestry. Daughter of a Jewish father and a Black mother, Nevaeh is caught between two worlds when her parents get divorced. I was very excited to read this book because I identified with many of the themes: parents getting divorced, Jewish heritage, multicultural family, and trying to find myself in the two distinct cultures that make up my background. What I was reminded by reading this book is that despite the many levels on which I could relate to the themes, every journey is unique. This is particularly the case when dealing with the reality of what it means to have black skin in a country founded on racism and white supremacy.The book exposes how skin color plays out not only in Nevaeh’s family, but when she’s out in her community trying to live life. It also exposes the implications of how the class divide operates to create different realities in education and access to material goods.The book does a wonderful job of grappling with the challenges and gifts of a dual identity (and in some instances dueling identities). Nevaeh is looking to find herself in places that don’t have a blueprint for her existence. I wish this book had been available for me forty years ago.One of my favorite parts of the book was the letter from the author at the end where she talks about what this book means to her and why she wrote it. That is where the entire book came together for me at a deeper level.

Color Me In made a likely fan of me as soon as I read the description, several months before I even got my eyes on an ARC. I'm often drawn to books that grapple with the complexities of identity, especially when the ideas of home and faith are part of that equation. Natasha Diaz has crafted a standout YA debut, tactfully exploring 16-year-old Nevaeh Levitz's burgeoning crisis in the wake of her parents' separation. Nevaeh has left the home she knew in the affluent suburbs and moved in to her mother's family home in Harlem, where she struggles to fit in with her Baptist relatives. While she's trying to find her footing in Harlem, her previously secular father has decided that he and Nevaeh need to connect with their Jewish heritage—in a public way, by throwing her a bat mitzvah several years late. I particularly appreciated the journal Nevaeh finds and reads to learn more about her mother's past, and the poetry Nevaeh writes as a way of finding and hearing her own voice. At times, I did wish the plot had slowed down just a touch so that the story may have had more time to play out on the page—there seemed to be a few unexplained, sudden leaps in time, eliding details and reflection, and the romance sped forward within only a few scenes. Overall, though, this is beautifully written, featuring great character development and thoughtful exploration of a host of relevant social and political issues.A good comp for readers of Misa Sugiura, Brandy Colbert, Susan Kaplan Carlton, and Elizabeth Acevedo.Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte/Random House for providing me with a digital review copy.

COLOR ME IN is rhythm. Music. Poetry. It's a thrumming in your chest, a pulse in your veins. Diaz's words reveal the power of Nevaeh, a young woman torn between two worlds, not knowing who she is or where she fits in, as she fights against the privilege that comes with her skin. It's filled with strong female characters who challenge Navaeh's sense of normalcy, and young males who prove that societal expectations are wrong when it comes to men of color. As Nevaeh learns about her Jewish faith from her father's side, and her Baptist faith from her mother's side, she also catches a glimpse into the reasons behind her parents' crumbling marriage as she reads through her mother's old journal.I highly, highly recommend this story that will challenge your experiences in every way as you read.

I would recommend!!